Nitish downplays defection of JD(U) MLAs to BJP in Arunachal
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday sought to downplay the split suffered by the Janata Dal (United) in Arunachal Pradesh where all but one MLA of the party have joined the BJP.
Kumar, who is the JD(U)s national president, sought to dismiss with a bitter laugh the development in the north- eastern state, where his party had won seven seats in the assembly polls held last year and become the main opposition group while the BJP, his coalition partner in Bihar, had achieved power.
"We are focusing on our proposed meeting. They have gone their own way", Kumar said in response to queries from journalists about the split that came ahead of the JD(U)s national executive and national council meetings scheduled here this weekend.
The JD(U) has been contesting assembly polls in a number of states without having a truck with the BJP, insisting that its tie-up with the saffron party was "confined to Bihar".
The party made an exception only in the Delhi assembly polls earlier this year which it fought in alliance with the BJP though the coalition suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Aam Aadmi Party.
The success in Arunachal Pradesh had helped the JD(U) gain recognition as a state party there, a development which was hailed by its rank and file as an evidence of its growing footprint under the leadership of the Bihar Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, the opposition RJD-Congress combine came out with statements asserting that the development in Arunachal Pradesh gave a hint of the shape of things to come in Bihar where the JD(U) has already ceased to be the senior partner in the coalition.
"The BJP, by violating the coalition dharma, has sought to send out a clear message that it cares two hoots about Nitish Kumar who, on the other hand, is wary of even reacting", RJD national vice-president Shivanand Tiwary said in his statement.
He also claimed that at a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital recently, the states two Deputy CMs- Tar Kishor Prasad and Renu Devi- were told by the former that the people of Bihar had reposed their trust in BJP which resulted in a majority for the NDA.
BJP won 74 seats in the October-November Bihar polls catapulting NDA to power notwithstanding poor showiung by the JD(U) whose tally slided to 43 from 69 earlier.
"This can be construed as an assertion that the BJP, and not Nitish Kumar, enjoyed the trust of the people... the game that the BJP had sought to play by propping up Chirag Paswan against the Chief Minister is unravelling", said Tiwary, who has formerly been with the JD(U).
He also said that Kumar will be "welcomed" if he chose to take "a courageous decision instead of enduring slights".
BPCC spokesman Rajesh Rathor said in his statement that the development in Arunachal Pradesh was a warning signal for Nitish Kumar who needed to act "before it is too late".
"It has been BJPs wont to swallow, like a python, its alliance partners. It tried to do so, unsuccessfully, with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. In Arunachal Pradesh, it has poached JD(U) MLAs despite having a majority", Rathor alleged.
Alleging that the Bihar Chief Minister was "no more in a situation to even heave a sigh of lament", the Congress spokesman asked Kumar to make haste "lest you may end up losing a major chunk of your MLAs to the ambitious BJP in Bihar as well".
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
